Notable team and driver changes

• After racing only at Indy in 1979, Leader Card Racing moves from USAC to CART, with Sheldon Kinser as lead driver and Bill Vukovich II running a limited schedule.
• AMI Racing also moves from USAC to CART, with Gary Bettenhausen as the driver.
• Team McLaren shuts down their IndyCar operations. Driver Johnny Rutherford moves to Chaparral Cars, replacing Al Unser.
• With Al Unser out at Chaparral, he moves to Longhorn Racing, replacing Tom Bagley.
• Vollstedt Enterprises, which only ran Indy the previous year, moves to a full schedule, driven by Dick Simon.
• Rookie driver Bill Tempero debuts with owner-driver team Tempero Racing.
• Wally Dallenbach Sr. retired from CART at the end of the 1979 season, becoming its competition director. His ride at Patrick Racing is filled by Tom Bagley.
• John Menard Jr. forms the new Team Menard organization, with Herm Johnson as the driver.
• Jerry Karl moves from USAC to CART, with his owner-driver team Karl Racing.
• Alsup Racing expands to a two-car team, with Bill Alsup joined in most races by Phil Caliva.
• After running a full season in 1979, All American Racers and driver Mike Mosley only run three races in 1980.
• Hoffman Racing once again fields a variety of drivers, with Lee Kunzman, Joe Saldana, and Bob Frey splitting the year.
• Roger Rager moves he and his owner-driver Rager Racing from USAC to CART.
• After competing in most of the 1979 races, Salt Walther and team Walmotor only race in 2 races.
• Larry Cannon and his Cannon Racing team move to a full-time schedule after running part-time in 1979.
• Gehlhausen Racing, which fielded a full-time team in 1979, closes, with driver Spike Gehlhausen moving to Bob Fletcher Racing.

Notable equipment changes

• Longhorn Racing switches from a Penske chassis to its own Longhorn.
• Morales Motorsports switches from a Lightning chassis to a used Penske.
• Patrick Racing switches from a Penske to Phoenix chassis.
• Bob Fletcher Racing switches from a Lightning to Penske chassis.
• Alsup Racing switches from a McLaren to Penske chassis and from an Offenhauser to Cosworth engine.

Schedule

Rd	Date	Name	Circuit	Location
-	March 2	Arizona Republic/Jimmy Bryan 150	O  Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona
1	April 13	Datsun Twin 200	O  Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California
2	May 25	Indianapolis 500	O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis, Indiana
3	June 8	Gould Rex Mays Classic	O  Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
4	June 22	True Value 500	O  Pocono Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania
5	July 13	Red Roof Inns 250	R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
6	July 20	Norton Twin 200	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
7	August 3	Kent Oil 150	R  Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York
8	August 10	Tony Bettenhausen Classic	O  Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
9	August 31	California 500	O  Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California
10	September 20	Gould Grand Prix	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
11	October 26	I Copa México 150	R  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	Mexico City, Mexico
12	November 8	Miller High Life 150 In Memory of Bobby Ball	O  Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona

- The Phoenix race was scheduled for March 2, but cancelled due to flooding.
 O  Oval/Speedway  R  Dedicated road course

Race summaries

Race 1: Datsun Twin 200

For the opening race of the year, Johnny Rutherford qualified on the pole, with Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Rick Mears, and Tom Sneva making up the rest of the top five starters.

Johnny Rutherford led the first eight laps, before Bobby Unser caught and passed in lap traffic. ^[1] However, while leading on lap 14, he suffered a cracked radiator and dropped out. This moved Rutherford back in front, and he was mostly uncontested for the remainder of the race as most challengers had problems. Rick Mears dropped out due to electrical issues while running second. Pancho Carter moved up to second,^[1] but he dropped out with fuel pump problems, followed by Al Unser dropping out on lap 45 with a broken transmission. With most of his competition out, Rutherford cruised to an easy victory over Tom Sneva. Gordon Johncock finished third, Spike Gehlhausen fourth, and Tom Bagley fifth.

Race 2: Indianapolis 500

Race 3: Rex Mays Classic

Gordon Johncock qualified on the pole, with Johnny Rutherford starting second, Al Unser starting third, Rick Mears starting fourth, and Bobby Unser rounding out the top five starters.

In the race Rutherford jumped out to the lead on lap 7, and controlled most of the next 50 laps before Gordon Johncock took the lead on lap 55. 60 laps later, under the fourth caution of the day, Al Unser, who was running in second had an engine failure and dropped out.^[2] This moved his brother Bobby Unser into second, and on the restart he managed to catch and pass Johncock for the lead, holding on to win. Johnny Rutherford rose to second, Gordon Johncock ended up third, Pancho Carter finished fourth, and Rick Mears fifth.

With his second place, Rutherford now had a 400 point lead over second place Tom Sneva, with Gordon Johncock 550 points back in third, Gary Bettenhausen 925 points back in fourth, and Rick Mears 984 points behind in fifth.

Race 4: True Value 500

Bobby Unser won the pole, with A.J. Foyt starting second, Mario Andretti starting third, Mike Mosley starting in fourth, and Johnny Rutherford starting fifth.

In the race, A.J. Foyt took the lead on the first lap, and led most of the first half of the race, giving up the lead only for pit shuffling. The first caution came on lap 11, when Al Loquasto lost a wheel and Dennis Firestone wrecked in the same part of the track.^[3] The second caution came on lap 26, after Howdy Holmes lost control, Jim McElreath slowed and Roger Rager hit the rear of his car.^[3]

While leading on lap 82, Foyt encountered a bad valve, and dropped out. This gave the lead to Bobby Unser, who led most of the rest of the race. Johnny Rutherford led 1 lap due to pit stop shuffling,^[4] followed by 5 laps under caution after Pancho Carter spun,^[5] but when the green flag flew after a caution on lap 165, Unser pulled away. Rutherford's hopes of winning ended with 20 laps to go when his engine stalled in the pits, allowing Unser to win the race by a wide margin over Rutherford. Tom Sneva finished third, Bill Alsup fourth, and Vern Schuppan fifth. Most other stars were taken out due to attrition. Al Unser was never a factor and dropped out with handling problems on lap 35. Mike Mosley broke a piston while running in third on lap 46,^[3] Danny Ongais dropped out with clutch problems on lap 100, Mario Andretti was sidelined with a broken transmission on lap 105, and Rick Mears blew his engine on lap 163.

Johnny Rutherford extended his lead to 500 points over Tom Sneva, with Bobby Unser rising to third, 1114 points behind, Gordon Johncock, who didn't enter, falling to fourth, 1350 points back, and Pancho Carter rising to fifth, 1452 points behind.

Race 5: Red Roof Inns 250

Al Unser qualified on the pole, followed by brother Bobby Unser in second, Rick Mears in third, Johnny Rutherford in fourth, and Danny Ongais rounding out the top five starters.

The start of the race was problematic. Starter Duane Sweeney didn't give the green flag when the pace car pulled off as the back rows were strung out, but the field got going anyway, with Al Unser spinning off track in the first turn. Two laps later they got back in two-by-two order for the official start.^[6] Danny Ongais and Sheldon Kinser didn't make it to the green flag, with Ongais having ignition problems and Kinser a blown engine. On the first lap, Tim Richmond spun off course and was hit by John Wood.

Bobby Unser jumped out to the lead after his brother spun, and led the first 12 laps, But he encountered a valve problem while leading and dropped out. Rick Mears then took the lead, and throughout the next 20 laps dueled with Johnny Rutherford.^[6] After a poor pit stop by Rutherford, Mears had a 20 second lead, but due to heat exhaustion lost concentration and spun out while leading on lap 47. This gave the lead to Rutherford, with Mears's day ending on lap 54 after Rick Muther spun out and Mears hit him. This brought out the caution, allowing second place Gordon Johncock to close. But when the green flew, Rutherford pulled away and won, a rare road course win. Bill Alsup finished third, Roger Mears fourth, and Vern Schuppan fifth. Polesitter Al Unser lost a lap due to an unscheduled pit stop, and dropped out with suspension problems while running fifth.

Rutherford now had a 770 point lead over Tom Sneva, who had crashed out. Bobby Unser was third, 1406 points back, Gordon Johncock fourth, 1410 points back, and Pancho Carter fifth, 1662 points back.

Race Results

Rd	Race	Pole Position	Winning driver	Winning team	Race time	Report
1	Datsun Twin 200	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	1:14:03	Report
2	Indianapolis 500	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	3:29:59	Report
3	Gould Rex Mays Classic	Gordon Johncock	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	1:19:48	Report
4	True Value 500	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	3:18:04	Report
5	Red Roof Inns 150	Al Unser	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	1:48:04	Report
6	Norton 200	Bobby Unser	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	1:20:48	Report
7	Kent Oil 150	Al Unser	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	1:30:51	Report
8	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	1:54:13	Report
9	California 500	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	3:11:51	Report
10	Gould Grand Prix	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti	Team Penske	0:53:44	Report
11	I Copa México 150	Bobby Unser	Rick Mears	Team Penske	1:16:43	Report
12	Miller High Life 150	Mario Andretti	Tom Sneva	Jerry O'Connell Racing	1:30:04	Report

• CART and USAC united in 1980 under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL).The first five races of the season were run under CRL banner sanction by USAC. The union dissolved after the Mid-Ohio race. CART sanctioned the seven remaining races on the schedule and combined the results of those along with the CRL events for their championship.

Final driver standings

Pos Driver ONT INDY MIL POC MDO MIC WGL MIL ONT MIC MXS PHX Pts 1 Johnny Rutherford 1 1 2 2 1 1 5 1 2 4 10 13 4,723 2 Bobby Unser 23 19 1 1 15 2 1 3 1 2 2 DNS 3,714 3 Tom Sneva 2 2 6 3 11 6 4 16 26 6 4 1 2,930 4 Rick Mears 21 5 5 12 9 4 2 2 3 3 1 7 2,866 5 Pancho Carter 18 6 4 6 7 3 7 22 7 7 22 19 1,855 6 Gordon Johncock 3 4 3 DNS 2 5 21 23 23 24 19 24 1,572 7 Bill Alsup 7 DNQ 9 4 3 10 8 21 16 10 16 21 1,214 8 Al Unser 16 27 20 24 13 7 19 13 4 5 3 15 1,153 9 Gary Bettenhausen 3 12 33 20 9 11 Wth 31 19 3 1,057 10 Vern Schuppan DNQ 5 5 18 10 806 11 Tom Bagley 5 28 23 29 DNS 8 6 4 15 8 18 16 794 12 Dennis Firestone  RY  16 30 14 6 DNS 5 5 743 13 Sheldon Kinser 13 DNQ 11 7 24 16 20 17 12 14 7 4 697 14 Tom Gloy 6 5 9 680 15 Danny Ongais 7 24 18 23 21 3 19 11 24 601 16 Mario Andretti 20 17 1 2 580 17 Spike Gehlhausen 4 29 DNQ 12 5 33 25 473 18 Roger Rager 23 26 8 24 8 11 11 10 381 19 Rick Muther 24 DNQ 18 10 25 10 8 356 20 Bill Tempero  R  17 DNQ 16 17 17 15 6 18 16 8 11 331 21 Dick Ferguson 8 31 DNQ 13 9 315 22 Howdy Holmes DNQ 15 8 14 11 13 314 23 Larry Cannon 33 DNQ 9 DNQ 20 DNQ 24 22 9 18 299 24 Herm Johnson 14 DNQ 17 11 11 13 13 14 8 272 24 Roger Mears 9 DNQ 4 16 26 272 26 Tom Bigelow 8 14 260 27 Billy Engelhart 11 10 13 10 28 17 246 28 Jim McElreath 24 27 12 9 6 240 29 Jerry Karl 21 14 15 18 15 9 24 27 12 9 215 30 Tim Richmond 9 DNQ DNQ 21 26 209 31 Dick Simon 22 13 21 DNS 18 17 7 37 23 25 185 32 Greg Leffler  R  10 DNQ 20 15 20 184 33 Gordon Smiley  R  6 25 20 DNQ 176 34 Lee Kunzman DNQ 10 DNQ 150 35 Jerry Sneva 17 8 14 25 36 12 23 149 36 Pete Halsmer  R  20 DNQ 6 128 37 Bill Vukovich II 12 21 28 19 34 25 12 96 38 Cliff Hucul 7 90 39 Phil Caliva 15 DNQ 16 12 21 21 70 40 Jan Sneva 10 DNQ 60 41 John Martin DNQ 20 16 19 15 25 56 41 Mike Mosley 19 32 23 20 17 56 43 Joe Saldana 25 DNQ 22 DNQ 23 12 21 50 44 A. J. Foyt DNS 14 19 45 45 Ron Shuman 11 DNQ 40 46 Johnny Parsons 26 DNQ 22 22 23 36 47 John Mahler DNQ DNQ 19 14 18 30 13 35 48 Don Whittington 13 DNQ 25 48 John Wood  R  12 DNQ DNQ 22 DNQ 25 48 Mike Chandler  R  14 25 48 George Snider 15 DNQ 25 52 Hurley Haywood 18 20 53 Phil Threshie DNQ 22 25 DNQ DNQ 15 54 Larry Dickson DNQ 35 22 10 55 Daniel Muñiz  R  15 8 55 Jerry Miller 14 8 57 Billie Harvey 19 6 57 Bob Frey  R  DNQ DNQ DNQ 17 6 57 Juan Carlos Bolaños  R  17 6 57 Michel Jourdain Sr. 18 DNQ 6 57 Ross Davis 22 DNQ 6 57 Salt Walther DNQ 18 6 63 Al Loquasto DNQ 31 5 63 Bill Whittington 30 5 63 Chip Mead  R  29 5 63 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. DNQ DNQ 32 DNQ DNS 5 63 Jeff Heywood  R  32 5 Pos Driver ONT INDY MIL POC MDO MIC WGL MIL ONT MIC MXS PHX Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps  RY  Rookie of the Year  R  Rookie

Driver Breakdown

Pos	Driver	Team/Car Owner	Starts	Wins	Podiums	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points
1	Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	12	5	8	10	10	3	4,723
2	B. Unser	Team Penske	11	4	8	8	8	3	3,714
3	T. Sneva	Jerry O'Connell Racing	12	1	4	6	9	0	2,930
4	Ri. Mears	Team Penske	12	1	5	8	9	0	2,866
5	Carter	Morales Motorsports	12	0	1	2	8	0	1,855
6	Johncock	Patrick Racing	11	0	3	5	5	1	1,572
7	Alsup	Alsup Racing	11	0	1	2	7	0	1,214
8	A. Unser	Longhorn Racing	12	0	1	3	4	2	1,153
9	G. Bettenhausen	AMI Racing	9	0	2	2	3	0	1,149
10	Schuppan	Jerry O'Connell Racing Wysard Racing	4	0	0	2	3	0	806
11	Bagley	Patrick Racing	11	0	0	2	5	0	794
12	Firestone	Rhoades Competition	6	0	0	2	3	0	743
13	Kinser	Leader Card Racing	11	0	0	1	3	0	697
14	Gloy	Team Penske	3	0	0	1	3	0	680
15	Ongais	Interscope Racing AMI Racing	9	0	0	1	2	0	601
16	Andretti	Team Penske	4	1	2	2	2	3	580
17	Gehlhausen	Bob Fletcher Racing	6	0	0	2	2	0	473
18	Rager	Rager Racing	8	0	0	0	2	0	381
19	Muther	Pacific Coast Racing	6	0	0	0	2	0	356
20	Tempero	Tempero Racing	10	0	0	0	2	0	331
21	Ferguson	Sanett Racing	4	0	0	0	2	0	315
22	Holmes	AMI Racing	5	0	0	0	1	0	314
23	Cannon	Cannon Racing	7	0	0	0	2	0	299
24	Johnson	Menard Racing	8	0	0	0	1	0	272
24	Ro. Mears	Hodgdon Racing Agajanian-Grant King Racers	4	0	0	1	2	0	272
26	Bigelow	AMI Racing	2	0	0	0	1	0	260
27	Engelhart	Beaudoin Racing	6	0	0	0	2	0	246
28	McElreath	McElreath Racing	5	0	0	0	2	0	240
29	Karl	Karl Racing	10	0	0	0	1	0	215
30	Richmond	Mach I Racing	3	0	0	0	1	0	209
31	Simon	Vollstedt Enterprises	10	0	0	0	1	0	185
32	Leffler	AMI Racing	4	0	0	0	1	0	184
33	Smiley	Patrick Racing Bob Fletcher Racing	3	0	0	0	1	0	176
34	Kunzman	O'Hanlon Racing	1	0	0	0	1	0	150
35	Je. Sneva	AMI Racing O'Hanlon Racing	7	0	0	0	1	0	149
36	Halsmer	Wysard Racing	2	0	0	0	1	0	128
37	Vukovich	Leader Card Racing	7	0	0	0	0	0	96
38	Hucul	O'Hanlon Racing	1	0	0	0	1	0	90
39	Caliva	Alsup Racing	5	0	0	0	0	0	70
40	Ja. Sneva	BFM Enterprises Walmotor	1	0	0	0	1	0	60
41	Martin	JJ Enterprises	5	0	0	0	0	0	56
41	Mosley	All American Racers Mach I Racing	5	0	0	0	0	0	56
43	Saldana	Hoffman Racing	5	0	0	0	0	0	50
44	Foyt	Gilmore Racing	3	0	0	0	0	0	45
45	Shuman	Stanton Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	40
46	Parsons	Lindsey Hopkins Racing	4	0	0	0	0	0	36
47	Mahler	Intercomp	5	0	0	0	0	0	35
48	D. Whittington	Whittington Bros. Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	25
48	Wood	Mergard Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	25
48	Chandler	Hodgdon Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	25
48	Snider	Gilmore Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	25
52	Haywood	Linsey Hopkins Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	20
53	Threshie	Machinists Union Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	15
54	Dickson	Machinists Union	2	0	0	0	0	0	10
55	Muñiz	Pronosticos Deportivos	1	0	0	0	0	0	8
55	Miller	Agajanian-Grant King Racers	1	0	0	0	0	0	8
57	Harvey	Agajanian-Grant King Racers	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Frey	Hoffman Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Bolaños	Ovaciones	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Jourdain Sr.	Shade Tree Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Davis	Davis Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Walther	Walmotor	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
63	Loquasto	Pacific Coast Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
63	B. Whittington	Whittington Bros. Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
63	Mead	Intercomp	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
63	T. Bettenhausen Jr.	Bettenhausen Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
63	Heywood	Pacific Coast Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	5